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We decided to go camping for the September long weekend and of course to celebrate Dan’s birthday. We also wanted to try out camping with Hanna and we decided to rent a motor home for the weekend. We packed everything up and headed off to Kikomun Provincial Park on Friday. Its located just west of Fernie and south off the highway. It’s a beautiful area and I highly recommend it for camping excursions. There were two small lakes near our campground but we also found out there is a larger lake system (similar to the Shuswap) called Kookanusa Lake.

We had a great weekend, visited a nearby farmers market, Hanna and Dan did some swimming, we went on walks and played lots of UNO. Dan had a fine accomplishment one night with a one match fire, I was very impressed.

Hanna had other plans for the wood he had cut up for the fire.

Sunday was Dan’s birthday and we had a special surprise. My mom drove out from Castlegar for lunch and to visit and she brought him a yummy birthday cake for dessert. Dan was really surprised. I thought he would start getting suspicious as I kept checking my cell phone to see if she had called and was watching the road most of the morning.

We went for a walk after lunch to a small lake that was home to a number of painted turtles. We walked around the lake and tried not to disturb them as the bathed in the sun.

Mom stayed for the afternoon and we played more cards and just laughed and had a great time. On Monday we took our time driving home. We had a great time and renting the motor home was a great idea, it was a lot of fun.

Congratulations to Mark and Morrigan and big sister Ceilidh on the newest addition to their family.

Lily Faith Evangeline Sarah Bridget was born at 1:01am September 3 after a very short labour (25 minutes).

I submitted my application to APEGGA (Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta) back in April and have been patiently waiting for a response. In June I found out all my references had completed there submissions for my application and then it was just a matter of waiting and waiting and waiting. An engineer is eligible to apply for the P.Eng. once you have completed an examination and four years of work experience. I had written the exam a couple years ago, which mainly consisted of ethics questions and professional responsibility and regulations. I didn’t immediately apply for my professional designation though. I take this title and the responsibility very seriously and I wanted to ensure that I was ready for that responsibility. I don’t know exactly what I was waiting for, a sign or some feeling but I got one in March. It consisted of a letter from APEGGA stating that I had one month to apply or I needed to provide explanation why I was taking so long. I guess this was the sign I was waiting for and I did feel I was ready. I talked it over with my boss who wholeheartedly agreed that I was an appropriate candidate for the designation. So I applied and on August 23, 2005 I was registered as a Professional Engineer…I feel pretty accomplished as an engineer right now, what’s my next career step?…well I still do want to get my masters and I would like to write a paper…for now, I shall just relish in the new letters at the end of my name.

Three quarters of a century, 75 years, is a long time. On Saturday my mom gathered as many family and friends as she could so that we could all celebrate my grandmothers birthday. It was a surprise and boy was she surprised. We had balloons set up on the table and as my mom was wheeling baba into the back of the restaurant, where we all waited, she commented “Oh, someone must me having a party!”. Yes baba, someone was! She was a little overwhelmed, but she really enjoyed the party and had a wonderful evening visiting with friends and family. Mom did a great job, the evening was perfect.

Congratulations to Nicole and Derek on the arrival early this week of a beautiful baby girl, Joceline Bree.

The 14th Annual Calgary Dragon Boat Race Festival was held Aug 5th – 7th at the North Glenmore Reservoir. A total of 75 teams competed in this event, with 54 teams participating in the Mixed Teams category (i.e. combination of women and men team members).

Canadian Natural “BeatYouMan (Bitumen) Dragons” came in 16th overall out of 54 teams in this year’s race. That is really amazing for a rookie team with no previous race experience! We beat other teams in the race with 5+ years racing experience in the Division C race finals.

In the inaugural Oil Sands Cup, our finishing time for that 500m race was our best ever at 2 mins 24 secs. However, we were beaten by the professional teams that were commissioned by the other competing oil sands companies. We came in at 6th place out of 8 teams.

Thank you Sharon, Wendy, Alfredo, Anna, Ashley, Brad, Carol, Chalene, Don, Eric, Gerald, Greg, Harry, Helen, James, John, John, Judy, Jylian, Kathleen, Laurie, Ryan, Sean, Swee, Teresa and Karl. You guys are an amazing team and I look forward to participating with you again next year.

How did I spend my summer vacation? Well last weekend I packed up my truck on Friday and drove out west to see my best friend Jade in Kelowna. The drive was pretty crazy, so much traffic, but I made it there in roughly the time I thought I would. Jade took me out for dinner to this fantastic Japanese restaurant and we had a great evening just chatting. The next day we packed up her car, met up with two other friends; Aron and Heidi and off we drove to Lytton. We arrived at the Kumsheen Rafting Resort early afternoon and after setting up our tent and unpacking our belongings we headed up to the pool for a refreshing swim.

It was a beautifully hot summer day and the pool was just what we needed. We gave the gigantic chess board a try and then arrived at the dining room for dinner. When I was told the meals were included I was expecting hamburgers and beans but we were treated to a fantastic dinner, I had salmon….yummy. We spent the rest of the evening back at our camp site just chatting and enjoying the company and soon we were off to bed. There was a party in the next site, I think it was an 80’s party because we were serenaded to sleep by Michael Jackson “Billy Jean is not my lover….”!
The next morning we had some breakfast at the dining room, delicious, and then we just relaxed for the morning until it was time to head off rafting.

The weekend was fantastic so far but it got even better, rafting was awesome! We got soaked and were witness to some beautiful scenery. The Thompson River provided just enough rapids and calm for us to enjoy a rest and then lots of excitement!

Our guide kept us amused with stories all the way down. There was a forest fire on the side of the valley as well, we rafted through the smoke at one point which covered the sun and made it look all red and creepy.

It was really neat to see the old caribou trail that brought prospectors to the area looking for gold. All the way down the river we saw creeping pine trees, they seemed to be walking down to the river to get a drink. One had reached a crevice in the rock and the roots grew in a way that made it look like it was bracing itself against the rock.
We drove home that afternoon, all very happy at what a wonderful trip it had turned out and already starting to plan our next adventure. Aron suggests skydiving…we shall see.

I baked a lemon poppyseed cake last night (one of Dans favorites) and it was sitting on the stove cooling off. Dan was snoozing on the couch and I was just milling around. Hanna started howling at the cake because she wanted some of it and I told her “no” and to get out of the kitchen. I closed the kitchen door behind us. She sat in the hallway watching me as I kept walking around and I then went into the laundry room to fold some clothes. Minutes later I could hear her howling again. I walked out to see what she was doing. She was howling and pawing at Dan’s arm while he was asleep on the couch. She was trying to wake him up. Obviously so she could try and convince him to get her some cake. It was so funny because she seemed to wait until I was out of the room before waking up Dan. What a character!

Congratulations Corey and Randa!

Last weekend Dan and I travelled out to Regina to attend the wedding of his good friend Corey to the lovely Randa. It was a beautiful wedding in Wascana Park and the reception was held at the Saskatchewan Hotel (very fancy!). It was a brief, but beautiful ceremony. Randa looked amazing in a gold wedding dress. The reception was fairly casual, a wine and cheese social evening with a jazz band playing the entire evening. There were a couple speeches, but mostly the evening was just spent listening to great music, visiting and meeting some wonderful people. Dan was really happy to be there because he got to see a number of his old friends from the YMCA and of course he got to visit with Corey. Corey and Randa are moving up to Edmonton at the beginning of August so they will be a lot closer and I am sure plenty of trips up to Edmonton will be made. Congratulations to you both, I wish many years of happiness and good luck in Edmonton.

Nothing compares to being married to a handy man. My wonderful husband has finished off the borders for the flower beds in the front yard and when mom was here she helped with cleaning them up. We planted a couple of rose bushes and some flowers.
We had to cut back the iris’s to build the border but next year its going to look awesome. The roses have bloomed a flower and it looks so pretty.

There is a large peony in the front yard that we are going to move into the back middle of this flower garden this fall. This will fill in the flower bed rather nicely. Thanks Dan and Mom.